The company claims that the faster checkout mechanism helps improve sales and simplify the checkout process. The PayPal mobile express checkout feature is part of Digby’s mobile commerce software platform.

“By offering 1800Flowers mobile shoppers the new PayPal mobile express checkout option, we continue to evolve our mobile offering, delivering a best-in-class experience for our customers,” said Kevin Ranford, vice president of online marketing, mobile and social media at 1800Flowers.com, Carle Place, NY.

“As smartphone adoption and distribution continues to aggressively scale in 2011, we now have an additional lever to drive mobile shopping conversion, servicing the continually increasing demand for a fully mobile-optimization experience,” he said.

1800Flowers.com is a worldwide florist and gifts retailer. The company also produces gourmet gift baskets from brands such as its own Popcorn Factory and Fannie May.

Digby, who is powering 1800Flowers’ mobile commerce initiative, mobilizes retailers by helping them take a strategic approach to mobile commerce by delivering a branded experience for the mobile Web and apps.

How it works
Consumers access the 1800Flowers mobile site by entering http://www.1800flowers.com on their mobile browser.

In addition, consumers can by products from the company via its mobile applications.

After deciding on an arrangement, customers are routed to the checkout portal, where they have the option of using PayPal mobile express checkout.

Consumers can add their PayPal username and password once and the checkout process can be completed within seconds, per 1800Flowers.

“Within the mobile shopping experience, entering payment information is often one of the hurdles new mobile shoppers encounter,” Mr. Ranford said.

“Given our long-standing partnership with PayPal on the desktop side of our business, it’s a natural evolution to port both this functionality and PayPal’s mobile-savvy customers over to our mobile site, when they choose that option, making both of our customer bases aware of this new value-add where applicable,” he said.

Flowers for everyone
According to Mr. Ranford, by offering PayPal as a checkout option, the company now offers PayPal’s loyal customer base the option to use their PayPal account for additional ease of checkout, assisting conversion for 1800Flowers, as well as drives its customers to engage with the company’s mobile store.

Consumers can shop for birthday, last-minute and just-because gifts via the 1800Flowers mobile site and apps.

Customers can via special selections of the best selling items from flowers and gourmet foods, as well as browse exclusive offers just for mobile users.

“Digby believes that implementing PayPal will help 1800Flowers will drive additional purchases as it makes it easier for customers to buy,” said Dan Lowden, vice president of marketing at Digby, Austin, TX.

“Digby sees PayPal mobile express checkout as a great addition to our mobile commerce software platform,” he said.

Final Take
Here is a demo of the 1800Flowers iPhone app